Info, news & debate
Commons economy
Why we should support small fishing boats over super-trawlers, Part 1
Here’s Part 1 of our interview with Caroline Bennett, founder of ‘Sole of Discretion’, a community interest company that sells fish caught by a collective of small fishing boats in Devon. Here we’re talking about the sustainability and community benefits of small fishing boats, the barriers that they face, and how her business can help …
Six reasons the EU isn’t as green as it claims
Every year in June, the EU celebrates its annual ‘Green Week’, in which Europe’s environmental elite gather to congratulate each other on how green they are.
Where’s the problem – politics, economy or population?
Below are some things that I believe, some that I don’t believe and some that I know. Do you believe similar things? If so, stay in touch. Alternatives are being built – change is coming. Nothing stays the same forever.
£3.3 trillion fossil fuels subsidies by G20 countries since Paris Climate Agreement
All governments, including the UK, are telling us that they’re laser-focused on reducing carbon emissions. How are they doing? The chart above shows how they’re doing (source: Our World in Data). There’s a tiny flatline around 2020, but that’s because of the Covid lockdowns.
Our response to: “why don’t you start a political party?”
There’s a question we often hear: “why don’t you start a political party?” Sometimes this is genuine, and enthusiastic, but often it’s snarky, as in: “why don’t you stop sniping on the sidelines and put your ideas to the masses, who can vote for you if they like them? Then you can implement your proposals. …
Want to work for a great veg box scheme in the south of England?
Want to work for a great veg box scheme in the south of England? Actually it’s our veg box scheme. And it’s a bag not a a box. Each week we get a bag full of organic fruit and veg from Sutton Community Farm. If you live in south London, I really recommend them. Lovely …
Community energy, mutual credit and the mutualist economy
This is the third part of an interview with Jon Halle of Sharenergy, about the prospects for keeping energy production local and mutualised. Here we talk about community energy, mutual credit and mutualisation of the economy.
Keeping energy production local and mutualised: Jon Hallé of Sharenergy, Part 2
This is the second part of an interview with Jon Halle of Sharenergy, about the prospects for keeping energy production local and mutualised. We talk about community energy, Energy Local and the Big Solar Co-op.
Jon Hallé: Introducing the Big Solar Co-op, and how you can help renewables and the co-op sector
Today I’m speaking with Jon Hallé. We go back about 20 years. You ran courses on how to make biodiesel for Lowimpact, back in the early noughties, and you authored a book for us about making biodiesel, that sold about 15k copies in the first year. It caught the zeitgeist then, but of course diesel …
How ‘chamas’ and mutual credit are changing Africa: Shaila Agha of the Sarafu Network
Today I’m talking with Shaila Agha of the Sarafu Network about ‘chamas’ and mutual credit, and how they’re changing Africa.
What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé?
There’s an approach to life that sees craft jobs, or smallholding and food production, including baking, brewing and beekeeping, as well as any kind of job that involves manual work and dexterity as somehow retrograde and passé, and that ‘work’ now means mainly putting on a suit and travelling to an office to do something-or-other …
Can organic farming feed the world?
Now there’s a question – posed by Chris Smaje of the Ecoogical Land Co-op. Chris joined the board of the ELC as Dave of Lowimpact left, and since then Chris has produced a book called A Small Farm Future, which we review here. Members of Lowimpact have become involved in the world of mutual credit, …
John Thackara: What does the future hold for humanity?
This is part 1 of a conversation with John Thackara – senior fellow of the Royal College of Art, visiting professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, founder and director of the Doors of Perception sustainable design conferences, and author of many books, including How to Thrive in the Next Economy.
Join our presentation: the Credit Commons protocol – tech agnostic, low-friction transactions for all
You’re invited to join our presentation on the ‘Credit Commons’ – a protocol to connect and unite mutual credit groups globally – on Friday 4 June from 4-5.30pm. Sign up here.
‘Mutualism’ will supersede traditional left vs right politics
Nature, democracy and community aren’t partisan issues. No-one sensible, of any political persuasion, speaks out against them. They’re essential for human well-being. But they’re being destroyed, and disunity wastes energy and prevents us from being able to do anything about it.
Mutual credit in Africa: interview with Will Ruddick of Grassroots Economics
I’d like to introduce Will Ruddick, who set up the Grassroots Economics Foundation in Kenya around ten years ago, that runs a very successful mutual credit network (called the Sarafu Network) there.
Saving and investment in a mutual credit world
Nothing we do to try to move to a sustainable, healthy and democratic society will work as long as we have the current money system, because money has two conflicting functions. It can be used to buy and sell things, and it can be used to store, hoard, accumulate and become wealthy with. As long …
New money stories: the eleven dollar bill
I’m writing a book – published by Chelsea Green next January – about the possibility of building a new economy around a moneyless, mutual credit core, at a time when money is going to be scarce. I’m often told that the best way to get new ideas across is with a story.
Incredible new research: how small businesses can be saved post-Covid
It seems pretty obvious that there’s a giant economic slump on the way that’s going to sweep away millions of small and medium-sized businesses around the world, so that Amazon can step in to continue to try to take over the entire global economy.
The Future of Money (Part 2): with Brett Scott
This is part 2 of a conversation with Brett Scott, author and specialist in the money system. Here’s his excellent YouTube channel, and I’ll add links to other things we talk about as well. Part 1 is here.